Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings (IA cyclopediaofpain04cham).pdf/182



SEA-SERPENT, LAIR OF THE, Elihu Vedder, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass. A formidable creature, half serpent, half dragon, dull in colour and inert, but with a malignant, ever-watchful eye, lies coiled upon a spit of sand beside a sultry sea.

SEBASTIANO DE MORRA, or The Bearded Dwarf, Velasquez, Madrid Museum; canvas, H. 3 ft. 4 in. × 2 ft. 9 in. A man with coarse features and heavy black hair and beard, wearing a cloak and linen collar, sitting on the ground, with his fists on his thighs. Engraved by F. Ribera; etched by F. Goya; Laguillermie; B. Maura; H. Guérard.—Ch. Blanc, École espagnole; Gaz. des B. Arts (1880), xxii. 176; Curtis, 30; Madrazo, 630.

SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO. See Piombo.

SEBASTIAN, ST., according to the legend, was commander of a company of the Prætorian Guards and a special favourite of Diocletian; his fervent Christianity having made him obnoxious to the Emperor, the latter ordered him to be bound to a stake and shot to death with arrows. Irene, widow of a martyr, going with others to take his body for burial, found that none of the arrows had penetrated a vital part, and carrying him to her home nursed him to health again. Diocletian, infuriated, had him beaten to death with clubs and his body thrown into the Cloaca Maxima. The martyrdom of St. Sebastian is a favourite subject with painters, and many of the great artists have left representations of it.

By Annibale Carracci, Louvre; canvas, H. 4 ft. 3 in. × 3 ft. 3 in. Bound to the trunk of a tree, pierced with arrows, his armour and clothing at his feet; in distance, right, mounted Roman soldiers departing. Collection of Louis XVI.; belonged previously to Duc de Montmorency and to Cardinal Richelieu. One of the best of Annibale's works in the Louvre. Engraved by G. Audran.—Villot, Cat. Louvre.

By Camille Corot, W. T. Walters, Baltimore; canvas, H. 8 ft. × 4 ft. In foreground, the wounded Saint lies upon drapery, while two women bind up his wounds; trees rise on each side, meeting at top to form an arch, through which are seen the departing soldiers; above, two cherubs, looking down. Salon, 1853; Exposition universelle, 1867, after a modification of trees and background. In 1871 Corot gave it as a prize in a lottery in aid of the wounded in the Franco-German War. The winner sold it for 9,000 francs to Durand Ruel, who resold it for 15,000 francs to Mr. Barlow, an Englishman, from whom it passed to Mr. Wallis, who sold it to Mr. Walters for $10,000.—Larousse, xiv. 445.

By Eugène Delacroix, Church of Nantua, France; canvas, H. 7 ft. × 8 ft. The saint, nude, pierced with arrows, is lying swooning on the ground under a tree; beside him are Irene and a companion, one drawing out an arrow while the other is gazing anxiously at the executioners, seen in background. Salon, 1836; bought by State for 3,000 francs and given to the factory at Nantua; sold in 1869 to M. Brame for 23,000 francs; this led to a lawsuit, and the Court of Appeals at Lyons finally decided that objects of art thus given cannot be alienated. Engraved by Salmon; Boilvin. Lithographed by Menut Alophe.—Chesneau, Œuvre de Delacroix, 167; Larousse, xiv. 445.

By Anton van Dyck, Louvre, Paris; canvas, H. 6 ft. 6 in. × 4 ft. 9 in. The saint bound to a tree; beside him two angels, one of whom unbinds one limb while the other draws out one of the arrows. Engraved by P. van Schuppen. Replica in Hermitage, St. Petersburg. Engraved by Réveil; Vorsterman; Voet.—Larousse, xiv. 445; Guiffrey, 252; Smith, iii. 42, 97.

By Anton van Dyck, Munich Gallery; canvas, H. 8 ft. 3 in. × 5 ft. 10 in. The saint, nude, bound to a tree in centre; to left, a man in blue and a negro in crimson; to right, two mounted soldiers, one with a scarlet banner. Formerly in Düsseldorf